Speech

Taeyeon sat on the wooden bench at the park, legs sprawled out comfortably. The morning wind felt refreshing as it loftily blew, gently lifting stray locks of her brown hair. As the minutes passed by, she watched the day begin. More people entered the park, some jogging, others walking. She saw the same familiar faces, the old lady with the bright orange sneakers, the old man with the checkered sweat pants and the young businessman that always looked like he had eaten ten burgers.

People watching.

It was a habit, or maybe more of a routine. It was nice seeing new faces appear in the park, wondering where they were en route to or whether they were meeting a friend. Thinking of the plans they could have or have had. It was something she enjoyed doing. Sometimes she would listen to people's conversations - not on purpose of course - to see how they thought or how they perceived the world. These conversations made her feel conflicted; some had admirable content while others had questionable ones. More often than not, they were materialistic shallow conversations which she abhorred.

Thankfully, today was not one of those days. The people that passed by talked about holiday plans and breakfast. No one could go wrong with that, could they? Taeyeon leaned back onto the bench to stretch, her t-shirt riding up to expose toned abs. She then bent down to pack her stationary then, along with her thought filled notebook.

As she was about to leave, a blonde haired girl took a seat next to her. The girl stared out into the distance, her eyes glassy and her movements rigid. Taeyeon took a moment to observe the girl, her gaze swivelling over the newcomer. She had milky white skin, high cheekbones and a well defined jaw line. If not for the sullen look on her face, she'd be breathtaking, Taeyeon thought.

A soft sigh left the girl's lips, but even then, her stoic face hadn't changed, her demeanour still intimidating and cold.

"Are you okay?" Taeyeon scribbled onto her notepad, passing it over to the girl.

"I'm fine." The girl looked down at the notepad, then turned to Taeyeon. "Mind your own business."

Taeyeon nodded then wrote a few more letters onto the notepad. "Alright. But do cheer up :)."

Taeyeon grabbed her belongings then and got up, ready to face the rest of the day. She hoped the girl's day would be better, it was too early to be sad, she thought. Just as she was about to leave, a weak grip tightened around her wrist.

"How did you know I was sad?"

Fishing her cellphone out of her pocket, she typed quickly.

"Your eyes."

"Oh. Okay." The grip slackened and the girl's eyes lost emotion.

Taeyeon placed her belongings down then sat next to the girl. She quietly waited, watching more people pass by as they rushed by to head to work. She figured it had been an hour since she had taken her seat, but frankly she didn't mind. She just hoped that at least her presence would help the saddened girl beside her.

"Weren't you leaving?" The girl finally spoke.

Taeyeon smiled then, relieved that the girl felt better. "I was, but I didn't want to leave you alone." She typed onto her phone.

"Why?"

"Because it's never good to be alone when you're sad."

The girl looked forward then, then said seemingly to no one. "Why do you care?"

"Because I can."

The girl paused then, as if struck. "Jessica."

Taeyeon smiled.

"Taeyeon."

"Thank you, Taeyeon. I appreciate it." Jessica smiled breathtakingly, then got up to leave. "I'll see you some other time." She curtly waved then turned around.

Taeyeon's hand was locked in mid-wave, but somehow a farewell was left dangling on the tip of her tongue, a feeling she hadn't felt in the longest time.

She felt that maybe, just maybe, she'd like to speak again.